General News
Nigeria’s Mining Reforms: Alake’s Aide Urges Journalists to Verify Claims
The Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, has rejected claims contained in a recent article published by the Telegraph, UK, on Nigeria’s mining sector and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
A rejoinder signed by Bamigbetan in Abuja in response to the October 18 article by Gordon Rayner stated that the report raised questions that were contradicted by facts concerning the mining dispute involving Jupiter and its Nigerian partners.
It explained that Basin Mining Limited and Range Mining Limited lost their mining licences after failing to pay the required annual service fees, adding that Basin Mining alone owed N1.22 billion in outstanding fees.
According to him, the affected companies were notified several times to fulfil their obligations before their licences were revoked in accordance with Nigerian mining laws.
The statement added that penalties on the unpaid fees continued to accumulate.
Bamigbetan said the government had provided an opportunity for affected companies to address genuine complaints following the revocation of at least 1,663 mining licences in November 2023.
He stressed that the licence revocations were part of reforms introduced by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, to enforce compliance, improve transparency and clean up the mining sector. He added that the government had invested in the Electronic Mining Cadastre Plus (EMC+) to improve the licensing process.
The Special Adviser accused Jupiter promoter, Steve Davis, of using international platforms to campaign against the Nigerian government instead of resolving the dispute through the appropriate legal and regulatory channels.
He added that the campaign had included attempts to attract international attention to the issue, including during President Bola Tinubu’s official visit to the United Kingdom in March, when he alleged that false claims were made against Nigeria.
According to Bamigbetan, the government had provided facts to counter the allegations, stressing that the dispute should be viewed within the context of Nigeria’s laws and regulatory requirements rather than through claims of political or diplomatic interference.
He therefore urged journalists reporting the matter to independently verify the claims of all parties before publication, stressing that responsible journalism requires facts to be established before prominence is given to allegations that could misrepresent Nigeria’s mining reforms and affect the country’s interests.